844 stretches legs on test run to Greeley, Colo.

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Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, April 10, for a test run. The locomotive is scheduled to travel to Idaho later this month.

Nick Valdez

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — So far, so good — that’s the news from Union Pacific after the railroad’s steam crew tested 4-8-4 No. 844 on mainline rails on Monday.
The railroad provided little fanfare before the test run, but did provide updates on the 844’s location through the Union Pacific Steam Twitter account once the locomotive got moving. The 844 departed Cheyenne at approximately 11 a.m. Mountain time on Monday, reached Greeley, Colo., around 2:45 p.m., and then arrived back at Cheyenne at approximately 5 p.m.

The test run comes ahead of No. 844’s excursion to Boise, Idaho, scheduled to begin on April 18. The 11-day journey will take the 73-year-old Northern-type engine to Laramie, Wyo.; Pocatello, Idaho; and Ogden, Utah. Later in 2017, the locomotive will travel to Denver for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Train and to Omaha for the College World Series.

In an update released earlier this year, Union Pacific said that members of the heritage operations program have been working to fit the 844 with new steam chest bushings.

“No. 844 has needed new valve rings for years,” Ed Dickens, the program’s senior manager said in the update. “We’ve had to prioritize and fit that work into the overall plan to keep the locomotive in top shape and on the road.”